5 Things You Need to Know: The Masters

The oddsmakers have Rory McIlroy (8-1) as the betting favourite this week and why not? The four-time major champion has had a sensational 2019 with seven top 10s in seven starts, including a win at The Players Championship. Statistically, he’s the PGA Tour’s leader in the most important ball-striking categories: Stokes Gained: Off-the-Tee; Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green; and Strokes Gained: Total. Impressive to say the least.

There have been hiccups, however. Continuing a 2018 trend, McIlroy played poorly in the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational after starting the day with the lead, and he was notably sloppy in his WGC Match Play loss to Tiger Woods. He also has demons at Augusta National. Famously, he tossed away a four-shot 54-hole lead in 2011, carding a shocking 80 on Sunday. Then last year he began the final round three shots back of Patrick Reed and paired with his Ryder Cup foe in the final group. Many thought the more seasoned McIlroy would overtake Reed, but the Northern Irishman never threatened, making just a single birdie in a two-over-par round of 74.

Still, McIlroy has long been thought of as a sure-fire Green Jacket wearer and his T5 last year was his fifth-straight top-10 finish in the Masters. His renewed I-am-not-defined-by-my-results attitude may be the tonic he needs to finally get over the hump in Georgia.

2. Tiger Talk

What a fascinating case Tiger Woods is this week. On the one hand, this will be just his third time teeing it up in the Masters in the last six years. And he has not contended in the tournament since 2013, when he finished four shots out of a playoff with a triple-bogey eight on his card, that coming at the par-5 15th hole in his second round where he incurred a controversial, next-day penalty for taking an illegal drop. (Controversial because some thought he should have been disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard.)

On the other hand, Woods convened with his fellow Masters winners for Tuesday night’s champions dinner as the highest-ranked player in the room, at World No. 12. Perhaps what Woods has going for him more than anything is his health, both physical and mental. A literal pain in the neck regrettably forced him out of action at one of his most beloved venues, Bay Hill, but he showed no real ill-effects at The Players or Match Play. Between the ears, Woods arrived at Augusta National knowing he can still beat everyone else over the course of a week, which he did at the Tour Championship in September. The biggest question mark for the 14-time major winner will be his putter. He ranks near the bottom of the PGA Tour in many on-the-green statistics.

3. Who Else Is Due?

The last four Masters winners were all men who donned a Green Jacket for the first time: Jordan Spieth in 2015; Danny Willett in 2016; Sergio Garcia in 2017; and Patrick Reed last year. Aside from Rory McIlroy, who is most likely to continue that trend? First up has to be Justin Rose, who has a sublime record in the tournament — five top 10s, including two runners-up — without winning. Like McIlroy, Rose seems a perfect player for Augusta National and his statistics this year, and in past Masters, are very hard to ignore when trying to prognosticate a winner. He’s ranked second in Greens in Regulation in the last four Masters and he’s first in both one-putt percentage and three-putt avoidance on the PGA Tour this season. Plus, how can a guy with the last name Rose not eventually win on a golf course where every hole is named after a flower?

Dustin Johnson has been trending nicely at Augusta National, finishing in the top 10 in his last three trips there, while Rickie Fowler has four top 12s in his last five Masters, including a runner-up to Reed last year.

4. Corey’s Story

What a week-plus it’s been for Canadian Corey Conners, who earned the last spot in the Masters’ field with his Valero Texas Open victory, which came after he played his way into that tournament via Monday qualifying. This will be the second Masters for Conners, who played the major as an amateur in 2015 as the previous year’s U.S. Amateur runner-up. (Which means Conners will be the second Canadian to play a Masters as both an amateur and a professional after Moe Norman.)

While Conners will no doubt still be on a high from his life-changing week in San Antonio, if he’s still got gas in the tank he should have a good shot at making the cut this week. He didn’t do that in 2015 (when he was nonetheless the week’s low amateur) largely because he posted an opening-round 80, but he shot 69 in the second round that week after figuring out some of the course’s nuances. Conners ranks third on the PGA Tour in Greens in Regulation and 12th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee, primarily hitting a draw with the driver, the preferred shot-shape for righties at Augusta. And, you know, he’s obviously in form.

Conners is joined by Mike Weir, the 2003 Masters champion, in comprising the Canadian contingent.

5. Adjusting Augusta

It’s often been written that Augusta National has had more nips and tucks through the years than a Hollywood starlet, and it’s the same story again for 2019 as the club has added 40 yards to the par-4 fifth hole by building a new tee deck on the other side of a road. That makes it an uphill 495-yard monster where the carry across two cavernous bunkers on the left-hand side of the fairway can now measure 310-plus yards, depending on where the tee blocks are positioned. The change may go undetected by many viewers, especially given the front nine’s lack of television coverage compared to the back, but No. 5 could play a pivotal role in determining the outcome on Sunday. A par there will be very valuable.

As for more noticeable changes, we may see those next year if the club indeed decides to lengthen the famed par-5 13th hole — which has become reachable in two for almost everyone in the field, removing some risk from the frame — after purchasing the necessary property to do so from neighbouring Augusta Country Club in 2017. If that happens, you’ll be sick of hearing about it this time next year.